The awards are offered as an incentive to encourage “grass roots” operational staff to share their knowledge and experience. To be eligible to win the award for Best paper by an Operator, all authors must be WIOA members, with the Primary Author employed in any sector of the water industry and identify themselves as working in an operational role.

WIOA selects a number of judges at each conference who watch all the presentations made over the two days. They score each of the papers based on:

• The content and layout of the written paper;
• The originality of the ideas portrayed;
• The use of visual aids during the presentation;
• The verbal presentation and whether or not the author sticks to the allotted time; and
• The demeanor of the presenter including how well they answer any questions.

At the completion of the paper sessions, the scores are tallied and the winners determined. The prizes are:

1st Place:  Travel, accommodation and a full delegate registration to attend another WIOA conference in Australia to deliver the paper again (to the value of $1,750)
2nd Place: Complimentary delegate registration (non-transferrable) to a WIOA conference of their choice within the next 12 months (valued at $550)
3rd Place:  Complimentary delegate registration (non-transferrable) to a WIOA conference of their choice within the next 12 months (valued at $550)

In addition, WIOA arranges a plaque and an all expenses paid trip for the winner to perform their paper at another “operations” conference within Australia.

This prize is an Open category award with all Platform paper presenters eligible to win, including the winner of the Best Paper by an Operator.

By using the votes from the platform paper judges, the presenter with the highest number of votes will receive the Prize for the Best Paper Overall at the conference.

The prize for the winner is a an all expenses paid opportunity to attend an Interstate WIOA Conference to deliver the paper again (to the value of $1,750)

It was recognised some time ago that not all “operations” staff feel comfortable with the idea of standing up in front of their peers and delivering a platform presentation. Others have an idea or a project they have completed which does not provide sufficient information to allow for a written paper and a 20 minute presentation. For these reasons, a Poster Paper section was introduced into the program for the various WIOA conferences.

The Posters use the same qualifying rules as the Papers (non-Bachelor qualified). Each poster author is required to do a short (5 minute) description of their poster in a more relaxed atmosphere on Thursday afternoon. They must also answer any questions about the poster.

Bachelor qualified water professionals are also invited to enter a poster for information sharing however, they will not be eligible to win the prizes.

To be eligible to win the award for Best Poster by an Operator, all authors must be WIOA members, with the Primary Author employed in any sector of the water industry and identify themselves as working in an operational role.

At the completion of the poster judging session, the winners are determined and the winners of the Best Poster Papers will be awarded:

1st Place:  All expenses paid opportunity to attend an Interstate WIOA conference (to the value of $1,750)